31st August, 2023
Grant Shapps was appointed UK defence secretary on Thursday, succeeding Ben Wallace, who formally stood down after playing a significant role in defining the country’s military support for Ukraine against Russia.
Wallace, a popular politician who was once considered a future party leader, was the longest-serving Conservative defence secretary since Winston Churchill.
He declared in a newspaper interview in July that he would stand down before the next cabinet reshuffle and would not run in the 2024 general election.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office confirmed Shapps’ appointment about an hour after he was photographed entering 10 Downing Street.
Shapps expressed his “honour” on social media, adding Wallace had made an “enormous contribution” to UK defence and world security.
“I am looking forward to working with the brave men and women of our armed forces who defend our nation’s security,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
“And continuing the UK’s support for Ukraine in their fight against Putin’s barbaric invasion.”
Shapps, 54, briefly served as home secretary last October in Liz Truss’s short-lived government and before that as transport secretary under Boris Johnson.
He was also business secretary under Sunak before taking over as minister responsible for energy security and net zero.
Last week, he visited Kyiv to pledge UK support to fuel Ukrainian power plants through the winter.
He also toured a kindergarten attended by the young son of a Ukrainian family he has hosted at his home since Russia’s invasion.
AFP